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<H2 ALIGN="CENTER">Changes to Chinese Adoption Laws</H2>
<P CLASS="BodyText-FCC"><B><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-1">By Bonny
Wong</FONT></B></P>
<P CLASS="BodyText-FCC"><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-1">On November 4, 1998, the
National People&#146;s Congress of the people&#146;s Republic of China passed
amendments to the existing Adoption Law of the People&#146;s Republic of China.
The amended Adoption Law came into force April 1, 1999. Here, I will only
discuss the amendments, which are relevant to foreign applicants applying for
non-relative adoption. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-1">Both Chinese citizens and foreign applicants
are covered by Article 6 of the Adoption Law:</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-1">&#147;Adopters shall meet simultaneously the
following requirements: </FONT></P>
<OL>
<LI><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-1">childless</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-1">capable of rearing and educating the
adoptee</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-1">no illness which is deemed medically as
inappropriate for the adopter to adopt children</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-1">having reached the age of 30&#148;</FONT></LI>
</OL>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-1">However, foreign applicants may adopt a child
or twins from a social welfare institute (often referred to as orphanage)
&#147;irrespective of the restrictions that the adopter shall be childless and
adopt one child only&#148; (Article 8). Please note that twins are not always
available for adoption.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-1">The adopted child/children may be free from any
special need or handicap condition. China cannot of course guarantee the health
of any child, but there is no longer a requirement to adopt a &#147;special
needs&#148; child if you do not meet requirements. However, you can still adopt
a special needs child if you so desire.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-1">The minimum age of foreign applicants has been
reduced from 35 to 30. No applicant under 30 years old can adopt any type of
child. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-1">Another amendment is the effective date of the
adoption is changed from the date of notarization to the date of registration
(Article 15).</FONT></P>
<P><I><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-1">Bonnie Wong runs <B>Tribo Services</B>, a
consultation agency facilitating adoptions from China.</FONT></I></P>
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<B>Last Updated: June 5th, 1999 </B></FONT> 
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